Critical Care Follow Up Clinic

We understand the road to recovery is often a long and emotionally difficult journey and can be very different for patients, family and friends.

The Clinic will provide you and your family/carer with an opportunity to discuss your experience with us and we will hopefully be able to answer any questions that you have about your illness or stay on the unit. It also offers us an opportunity to check that you are continuing to make good progress with your physical and psychological recovery.

Lastly it allows us to learn from you and your family, which in turn, will help us to continue to improve the care we provide for future patients and their relatives. Patients seen in the critical care follow-up clinic can be offered a range of support, or referral to another service, related to ongoing problems.

These can include physical problems such as:

• weakness

• joint problems

• breathlessness

• pain

• sexual dysfunction

• scar problems

• sleep problems.

Some patients experience psychological problems such as:

• anxiety

• depression

• post-traumatic stress

• problems with memory, concentration and tasks.

These can impact on:

• employment and return to work, school or study

• finances and income

• personal relationships

• social interactions

Following your appointment, your GP will receive a brief summary of your discussion and any actions needed to support your ongoing recovery.

Patients and their relatives will be seen by a Critical Care Practitioner and may also be seen by a Therapist or Psychologist depending on their needs.

The team have some understanding of what patients and their families have been through, and provide a point of contact during recovery, which may be many months or, sometimes, even years later.

Sometimes patients and their families just want to talk about their experiences, ask questions about their illness and recovery, and find out more about what happened to them.

We will send out a questionnaire that we ask you to complete before the clinic to help us assess how you are doing at the appointment; please can you bring this with you.

Clinics are held weekly at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and are offered either face-to-face; telephone and in some cases online. For patients who cannot or do not wish to attend in person, it is important to let the team know your preferred option. Patients often find it helpful to write down any questions they want to ask prior to the appointment.

Asking a family member or carer can also help reduce distress when discussing your experiences. Visitor car parking (charges apply) is available at the main hospital reception, with designated disabled bays.

We also offer patients and their relatives a structured visit back to the unit, which often helps them come to terms with what happened during the period of critical illness.

Appointments last approximately 1 hour and if a patient requires a shorter session, this will be accommodated.

We understand not all patients need, or want, a clinic appointment. Therefore, we ask that you please contact our admin team on 01253 955991 if you do not require an appointment.